How the Novel Coronavirus Infects a Cell: Science, Simplified

Due to its unique features, the novel coronavirus  is particularly good at infecting new cells  

both in the upper respiratory tract  as well as deeper down in the lungs.  

Here's a look at how the process takes place. The  microscopic virus enters through the nose or mouth  

where it begins its infection of our airways. The  outer spike protein of the coronavirus latches  

onto specific receptors on the surface of cells  in our respiratory tract. In the case of COVID19  

the virus latches on to the ACE-2 receptor.  This binding triggers the process by which the  

virus fuses into human cells. The viral envelope  merges with the oily membrane of our own cells  

allowing the virus to release its genetic material  into the inside of the healthy cell. The genetic  

blueprint of the virus is RNA instead of DNA which  acts as a molecular message, instructing our host  

cell machinery to read the template and translate  it into proteins that make up new virus particles.  

The hijacking persists as the human host cell  continues to generate more copies of the virus,  

assemble these copies into viable particles,  and traffic them to the outer edges of the cell  

for release. Each infected cell may  produce and release millions of copies  

of the virus which can then go on to infect other  neighboring cells as well as neighboring people  

when they are expelled from the airways  in droplets via coughing and sneezing.